Non-U.S. Emergency Management
Australia The key federal coordinating and advisory body for emergency management in Australia is Emergency Management Australia (EMA). Each state has its own State Emergency Service. The Emergency Call Service provides a national 000 emergency telephone number to contact state Police, Fire and Ambulance services. Arrangements are in place for state and federal cooperation. Canada Public Safety Canada (PSC) is Canada’s national emergency management agency. Each province is required to set up their Emergency Management Organizations. PSC coordinates and supports the efforts of federal organizations ensuring national security and the safety of Canadians. They also work with other levels of government, first responders, community groups, the private sector (operators of critical infrastructure) and other nations. PSC’s work is based on a wide range of policies and legislation through the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act which defines the powers, duties and functions of PSC are outlined. Other acts are specific to fields such as corrections, emergency management, law enforcement, and national security. Provincial EMOs * Provincial Emergency Program, Province of British Columbia's EMO. Germany In Germany the Federal Government controls the German Katastrophenschutz (disaster relief) and Zivilschutz (civil protection) programs. The local units of German fire department and the Technisches Hilfswerk (Federal Agency for Technical Relief, THW) are part of these programs. The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr), the German Federal Police and the 16 state police forces (Länderpolizei) all have been deployed for disaster relief operations. Besides the German Red Cross http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Rotes_Kreuz and its regional sister organisation, the Bavarian Red Cross, humanitarian help is dispensed by the Johanniter-Unfallhilfe http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe, the German equivalent of the St. John's Ambulance, the Malteser-Hilfsdienst http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malteser_Hilfsdienst, the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund, to cite the largest relief organisation that are equipped for large-scale emergencies. Command and control are provided by mobile municipal headquarter units. For more details see the article at http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilfsorganisation New Zealand In New Zealand the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) has statutory authority for managing any state of emergency declared by the central government. Local government bodies such as city and regional councils have their own emergency management agencies to manage localised states of emergency, but these all defer to the MCDEM in the event of a national state of emergency. The Wellington Emergency Management Office (WEMO) occupies a purpose built building with its own water, electricity, communications and sewerage facilities to ensure continued operations in the event of an emergency or disaster. Russia I Russia the Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) is engaged in Fire fighting]], Civil Defense, Search and Rescue, including rescue services after natural and human-made disasters. United Kingdom The United Kingdom adjusted its focus on emergency management following the 2000 UK fuel protests, severe UK flooding in the same year and the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis. This resulted in the creation of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA) which legislated the responsibilities of all category one responders regarding an emergency response. The CCA is managed by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat through Regional Resilience Forums and at the local authority level. Disaster Management training is generally conducted at the local level by the organisations involved in any response. This is consolidated through professional courses that can be undertaken at the Emergency Planning College. Furthemore diplomas and undergraduate qualifications can be gained throughout the country - the first course of this type was carried out by Coventry University in 1994. Institute of Emergency Management is a charity organisation, established in 1996, to provide consulting services for the government, media and commercial sectors. The Professional Society for Emergency Planners is the Emergency Planning Society. The UK’s largest ever emergency exercise was carried out on 20 May, 2007 near Belfast, Northern Ireland, and involved the scenario of a plane crash landing at Belfast International Airport. Staff from five hospitals and three airports participated in the drill, and almost 150 international observers assessed its effectiveness. =References=